Methods for producing low-k CDO films with low residual stress

ABSTRACT

Methods of preparing a carbon doped oxide (CDO) layer with a low dielectric constant and low residual stress are provided. The methods involve, for instance, providing a substrate to a deposition chamber and exposing it to a chemical precursor having molecules with at least one carbon-carbon triple bond, followed by igniting and maintaining a plasma in a deposition chamber using radio frequency power having high and low frequency components or one frequency component only, and depositing the carbon doped oxide film under conditions in which the resulting dielectric layer has a compressive stress or a tensile stress of not greater than, e.g., about 50 MPa, and dielectric constant of less than 3.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/524,330, filed Nov. 20, 2003, by Wu et al., and titled “METHODS FOR PRODUCING LOW-K CDO FILM OF LOW RESIDUE STRESS WITH DIELECTRIC CONSTANT <3.0,” which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to methods for preparing dielectric films having low dielectric constants and high mechanical strength. More specifically, the invention relates to process optimization and improvement through precursor structure selection and process parameter optimization, to lower the tensile stress of carbon doped oxide (CDO) films while maintaining low dielectric constants.

BACKGROUND

There is a general need for materials with low dielectric constants (low-k) in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. Using low-k materials as the interlayer dielectric of conductive interconnects reduces the delay in signal propagation and signal crosstalk due to capacitive effects. The lower the dielectric constant of the dielectric, the lower the capacitance of the dielectric and the RC delay in the lines and signal crosstalk between electrical lines of the IC. Further, the use of low k materials as interlayer dielectric will reduce power consumption of complex integrated circuits.

Low-k dielectrics are conventionally defined as those materials that have a dielectric constant (k) lower than that of silicon dioxide (SiO2), that is k<˜4. Generally, they have a dielectric constant of 3 or less. Typical methods of obtaining low-k materials include introducing pores into the dielectric matrix and/or doping silicon dioxide with various hydrocarbons or fluorine. In technology nodes of 90 nanometers and beyond, carbon doped oxide dielectric materials look extremely promising. However, wide spread deployment of these materials in modern integrated circuit fabrication processes presents some technological hurdles.

Specifically, in comparison with silicon dioxide, low k CDO materials typically have inferior mechanical properties due to the incorporation of ending methyl groups (—CH₃) in order to lower the k value of CDO materials. These mechanical properties include hardness, modulus, film residual stress, blanket film cracking threshold or limit, fracture toughness, etc. These properties are derived primarily from the strength of the atomic bonds and their binding energy. For instance, using conventional Si containing organics as precursors in a conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, the resulting dielectric CDO film will possess a dielectric constant of 2.7-2.95 with a hardness of 1.2-2.0 GPa, modulus of 6.6 to 12 GPa, and a blanket film cracking limit between 2.3-2.7 μm. It is noted that the cracking limit is an overall measure of mechanical properties of a CDO film. Many applications will require cracking thresholds of greater than 3 μm, and more preferably greater than 5 μm. CDO materials of inferior mechanical properties will have adhesive (delamination) and cohesive (cracking) failures during the Cu-low k integration and packaging steps. These failures are exacerbated by the increasing complexity of integrated circuits and manifest as growing numbers of metallization layers. It is not uncommon for a modern IC design to require nine metallization layers, each with a separate dielectric layer. Each of these dielectric layers will have to withstand mechanical stresses from, for example, Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) and/or thermal and mechanical stresses incurred during IC packaging operations.

In addition to modulus, a mechanical property of growing importance is the residual (or internal) stress in a dielectric film. As explained below, residual stress is comprised of an extrinsic stress component and an intrinsic stress component. Further, residual stress can be either compressive or tensile. Conventional low k films (k<3.2), including CDO films, typically have a tensile stress in excess of 50 MPa. The residual stresses within a deposited dielectric film are of particular interest for this invention. In IC fabrication contexts, these stresses can manifest in different ways, including cracking initiation and propagation and bowing or arching of die, which indicate net tensile or compressive stress. Low residual stress leads to low cracking driving force, a high cracking or buckling limit and hence a low failure rate during Cu-low k integration and packaging.

FIG. 1 a illustrates a dielectric film 105 deposited in a silicon substrate 110, in this case a carbon doped oxide (CDO) film (also known as an organo-silicate glass (OSG) film), where intrinsic tensile stress pulls the film in toward the center of the film and causes it to bend the substrate so that it is concave. A film of excessive tensile stress, such as a conventional CDO film, tends to initiate cracking spontaneously or under external influence. Further, the tensile stress tends to propel the crack propagation in the film. FIG. 1 b is an illustration of a similar structure in which compressive stress pushes the film out (along the plane of the film) and causes it to bend the substrate so that it is convex. A film of excessive compressive stress tends to lead to film buckling or spontaneous delamination from the substrate. Thus a low residual stress, either tensile or compressive, of CDO film is important in the application in the Cu-low k integration and packaging.

FIG. 2 is a graph of wafer-level stress as a function of number of process steps for 90 nm CDO technology and 130 nm fluorinated silica glass (SiOF) technology. This figure was taken from Jan, C. H., et al, 90 NM Generation, 300 mm Wafer Low k ILD/Cu Interconnect Technology, 2003 IEEE Interconnect Technology Conference, which is incorporated herein by reference. As shown, each additional layer of CDO dielectric material increases the total tensile residual stress in the test wafer. Clearly, more process steps lead to larger tensile stresses in the film. In a typical IC device requiring 5 or more CDO layers, the tensile residual stress creates serious problems. Note in FIG. 2 that the tensile stress development in CDO stacks is partially offset by the compressive stress of a silicon oxide layer at the top. Even if such silicon oxide layer is used in a fabrication process, it cannot overcome the difficulties associated with significant tensile stress occurring at intermediate stages of the fabrication process.

Many device failures can ultimately be traced to stresses and their variations at various stages of IC processing. Those failures including interfacial delamination between different materials and cracking within one material during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) and packaging. Excessive stress of thin films, such as CDO films, will also accumulate through multiple layer integration and will result in wafer warping and CMP issues. Since device feature size is continuously shrinking, stress related problems are expected to become more severe. Thus there is a high demand based on the current Cu-low k integration scheme that the stress of CDO films be lowered from the current level (˜50 MPa or greater tensile) while raising hardness/modulus and still retaining a low dielectric constant.

SUMMARY

To achieve the foregoing, and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, methods of improving the mechanical properties of thin films, including CDO films, are disclosed.

In one aspect of the invention, a carbon doped oxide (CDO) film containing carbon-carbon triple bonds and their derivative forms generated during deposition is applied to a substrate by contacting the substrate with one or more CDO precursors having unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds, especially one or more carbon-carbon triple bonds. Because of the choice of precursors, the resulting film will have either a compressive stress or a residual tensile stress of not greater than about 50 MPa, preferably not greater than 30 MPa, while possessing a dielectric constant of not greater than about 3. In some implementations of the invention, the CDO film serves as an interlayer dielectric in an integrated circuit.

In some implementations, the CDO film is formed on the substrate by a chemical deposition process (for example PECVD), using one or more precursors carried in a carrier gas (for example inert gases or oxygen containing gases including carbon dioxide, oxygen, ozone, or hydrogen peroxide). In an implementation where a single precursor gas is used, the precursor has at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. In some cases, the precursor also has at least two carbon-silicon bonds. In another implementation, the precursor contains silicon and oxygen atoms. In a specific implementation, the CDO precursor is selected from the group consisting of silanes having at least one hydrocarbon group with a carbon-carbon triple bond and at least one alkyl group, silanes having at least one hydrocarbon group with a double bond and at least one alkyl group, silanes having at least one hydrocarbon-oxy group and at least one alkyl group (possibly including a double carbon-carbon bond or a carbon-carbon triple bond), bis(alkylsilyl)acetylenes, bis(alkylsilyl)ethylenes, tetraalkyldisiloxanes, alkyl cyclotetrasiloxanes, and alkylsilanes. In another implementation, a secondary precursor is introduced into the CVD chamber using the same carrier gas as the precursor or, without a carrier gas.

In another aspect of the invention, an integrated circuit (IC) with one or more CDO dielectric layers having carbon-carbon double bonds or carbon-carbon triple bonds or both and/or their derivative forms generated during the deposition is provided. In some embodiments, the CDO layer serves as an interlayer dielectric in the IC. In a preferred embodiment, the CDO dielectric layer has a residual tensile stress of not greater than about 50 MPa, preferably not greater than about 30 MPa and a dielectric constant of not greater than about 3. In some implementations, the CDO dielectric is formed such that the net compressive residual stress has a magnitude of not greater than about 50 MPa, preferably not greater than about 30 MPa. Further, various implantations of the above CDO dielectric have one or more of the following desired properties: k less than about 3, cracking threshold greater than about 3 μm, and modulus of not less than about 5 GPa.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be presented in more detail below with reference to the associated drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a illustrates a dielectric film on a substrate under tensile stress.

FIG. 1 b illustrates a dielectric film on a substrate under compressive stress.

FIG. 2 is a graph of wafer-level stress as a function of process steps for 90 nm technology and 130 nm SiOF technology.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of four major structural configurations for carbon in CDO films.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the basic method for creating low-k CDO dielectric layers with low residual stress and high hardness/modulus.

FIG. 5 is a graph of film stress vs. deposition temperature.

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are Raman analysis graphs comparing a film prepared with TMCTS and a film prepared with BTMSA.

FIG. 7 shows FTIR spectra of ETMS, OMCTS and OMCTS+ETMS films.

FIG. 8 a is a graph of the deconvolution of the Si—O—Si FTIR absorption band for a CDO film with a tensile stress of 65 MPa.

FIG. 8 b is a graph of the deconvolution of Si—O—Si FTIR absorption band for a CDO film with a tensile stress of 20 MPa.

FIG. 9 a is an FTIR area ratio of deconvoluted Si—O—Si peaks vs CDO film stress.

FIG. 9 b is a graph of film modulus as a function of k value in two process regimes.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing film residual stress vs. LFRF power.

FIG. 11 is a plot of stress decreasing with increasing flow rate of a precursor with novel functional groups.

FIG. 12 plots residual film stress as a function of k value for films deposited using different precursors.

FIG. 13 is a plot of the electrical performance of the film described in experimental example 2.

FIG. 14 provides a simple block diagram depicting various reactor components arranged as in a conventional reactor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Introduction and Overview

The present invention relates to methods of creating low-k carbon doped oxide (CDO) layers with high mechanical strength and low residual stress. Generally, CDO film refers to a material whose compositional elements include Si, O, C and H. It may contain traces of other elements, including fluorine (F) or germanium (Ge). “Low-k”, in the context of this invention means that the dielectric constant of the CDO layer is not greater than about 3.5 and preferably not greater than about 3.0.

The residual stress of CDO films produced under unoptimized process conditions is generally >50 MPa with a typical value in the range between 60 MPa and 90 MPa. The processes of this invention significantly reduce residual film stress by alternating CDO film compositional bonding structure through optimizing precursor selection and/or deposition process conditions.

As indicated above, the residual stress in a thin film can arise from two different sources: intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic stress is produced from a source external to the film. In integrated circuits, extrinsic stress is typically caused by the mismatch in thermomechanical properties between a dielectric layer and the underlying substrate, especially a mismatch in their thermal expansion coefficients. Lowering deposition temperature will minimize the extrinsic stress in a film, as will a smaller mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between the film and the substrate.

Intrinsic stress can be traced to the film-growth mechanism and the final lattice structure of the dielectric material. It depends upon the deposition conditions, such as for example during a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the deposition temperature, the frequency and power of a radio frequency (RF) source used to generate a plasma, deposition pressure, deposition rate, and chemical precursor(s) used.

From a materials standpoint, it is believed that intrinsic stress in CDO films is determined by the backbone structure, that is the Si—O—Si matrix. CDO films produced by conventional processes possess many terminal groups such as free methyl and ethyl groups attached to the Si—O—Si matrix. The resulting Si—O—Si matrix has a structure, defined by its average bonding length and angle, that are less than ideal to match with the substrate material to yield low residual stress. It is noted by this invention that the intrinsic stress of a CDO film can be reduced by optimizing the Si—O—Si matrix structure through introducing additional bonds of different length, bonds of different angles, and cross-linking between bonds. And, in fact, it has been found through this invention that intrinsic stress can be reduced by incorporating carbon-carbon triple bonds and bonds of their derivatives in form of crosslinking in the CDO film. Further it has been found that the incorporation of these bonds and their crosslinking optimizes Si—O—Si matrix structure and reduces the tensile stress of CDO film.

Thus, in one aspect, the present invention provides CDO films including at least some carbon-carbon triple bonds and their derivative forms. These derivative forms of triple bonds include carbon-carbon double bonds, carbon-carbon single bonds, and their crosslinked forms with other compositional atoms, including Si, O, C and H, in a CDO film. As discussed below, the incorporation of carbon-carbon triple bond in the CDO film can be detected using, for example, Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. The content of carbon-carbon triple bond in the CDO film can be quantitatively described by the ratio of its FTIR peak area centered at ˜2100 cm⁻¹ to the FTIR peak area of main backbone Si—O—Si matrix centered at ˜1020 cm⁻¹. Preferably, the ratio of FTIR C≡C triple bond peak area to Si—O bond area will fall in the range of about 0.05% to 20%, more preferably in the range of about 0.3% to 7%.

The advantages gained by introducing these unsaturated groups can be understood as follows. There are four major structural configurations for carbon in CDO films. By way of illustration, FIG. 3 illustrates these configurations. The sp³ structure 200 has the most degrees of freedom while the other three formats (sp² format 202 and sp formats 204 and 206) have fewer degrees of freedom and thus have more rigidity. Due to the reactive nature of deposition process and carbon-carbon triple bonds, not only triple bonds themselves but also their derivative forms will be present in CDO films. These derivative forms result from the opening of one or two of the triple bonds to form carbon-carbon double bonds or carbon-carbon bond, and/or crosslinking to Si—O—Si network. The sp² and sp structures comprise C═C or C≡C bonds and have significantly different atom-atom of distance than do C—C, C—O, Si—O, or Si—C bonds. The nominal bond length of a C—C bond is ˜1.5 Å, that of a C═C bond is ˜1.3 Å and that of C≡C bond is ˜1.2 Å. The bond length of a C—O bond is ˜1.1 Å while the nominal bond length of a Si—O bond is ˜1.6 Å and that of a Si—C bond is ˜1.9 Å. Because of their rigidity and bond lengths, the C═C or C≡C bonds and their derivative forms provide a means to alter the Si—O—Si matrix structure and to engineer the lattice structure of CDO films in order to minimize the lattice mismatch between the CDO film and the substrate and thus lower the tensile stress commonly associated with the CDO film. In one embodiment, the invention pertains to any modified Si—O—Si backbone structure that possesses an average bond angle of less than approximately 145 degrees, and a stretching vibration peak position at wavenumber of less than 1100 cm⁻¹ on FTIR spectrum.

Another aspect of the invention provides deposition conditions selected to introduce increased desired bond incorporation and crosslinking/bridging within the dielectric network, e.g., by employing a dual frequency RF plasma source having a significant content of low frequency power and employing precursors that provide additional carbon content and carbon containing bonding structures. The deposition conditions are selected to enhance the incorporation of desired bonds in precursor(s) into CDO film and the crosslinking of those bonds during deposition. The desired bonds incorporated in films and their derivatives after crosslinking with other compositional atoms, e.g., Si, O, C, and/or H, in the CDO film include acetylene (Si—C≡C—Si), ethylene (Si—CH═CH—Si), ethane (Si—CH₂—CH₂—Si), methylene (Si—CH₂—Si), Si—CH═C(O)—Si, —CH(C)—C(O, C)—, —CH═CH—C—, —CH═CH—O—, etc. Due to the open space introduced by these bonds, CDO films containing these groups maintain relatively low dielectric constants (e.g., less than about 3).

The total residual stress of the CDO films produced using these methods (precursor and/or process optimization) should preferably have less than about 50 MPa of tensile stress, and more preferably less than about 30 MPa tensile stress. It has also been demonstrated that the resulting film may have a compressive stress rather than a tensile stress (which is usually shown as a negative number). If the film exhibits a net residual compressive stress, the magnitude of that compressive stress should be less than about 50 MPa, and more preferably a magnitude of less than 30 MPa compressive. One suitable apparatus used to measure internal stress is the “Flexus” tool purchased from KLA-Tencor Corporation. But any tool that accurately measures bow or other deviation from planarity in a wafer can be employed.

While the primary focus of this invention is reducing residual stress in CDO films, the films preferably possess a variety of other mechanical properties rendering them suitable for integration in demanding IC fabrication processes. Examples of such other mechanical properties include hardness, modulus, blanket film cracking limit, fracture toughness (resistance to crack propagation after a crack is initiated) and cracking propagation velocity. Hardness and modulus are well defined within the art and will not be discussed in detail herein. Measures of film hardness and modulus presented herein may be made with any suitable apparatus including a nano-indentation device. In the context of the present invention, a desirable modulus range is higher than about 3 GPa, most preferably higher than about 6 GPa

One manifestation of residual tensile stress in a film is cracking. A film's cracking threshold is a measure of the thickness of the film on a blank substrate (e.g., a flat 200 mm wafer) that can be deposited without forming a crack. In a typical experiment, the dielectric film is deposited to various thicknesses using a single set of process conditions. The resulting wafer (with dielectric layer) is set aside without disturbance for a period of time (e.g., one day) and examined for cracks. The greatest thickness at which no crack is observed is the cracking threshold. For many processes, the cracking threshold is measured in μm. For the purposes of this invention, the cracking threshold is greater than about 3 μm. Most preferably, the cracking threshold is greater than about 5 μm.

Note that the CDO films described in this application are composed of, at least, silicon, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. The typical chemical composition of the as deposited CDO films includes 10-50 atomic percentage silicon, 5-60 atomic percentage oxygen, 5-50 atomic percentage carbon and 20-35 atomic percentage of hydrogen. In some embodiments, other elements may be present in the CDO films. These elements include fluorine (F), germanium (Ge), etc.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating at a high level one methodology for creating low-k CDO dielectric layers with low residual stress and preferably high hardness/modulus. In a step 405 a wafer is supplied. In step 410, one or more precursors are introduced. Precursors are chosen to have a high carbon content and, in some embodiments, one or more double bonds or unsaturated bonds in the form of carbon-carbon triple bonds. Preferably, precursors have at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. In step 415, plasma is ignited under conditions that promote incorporation of desired compositional bond structure in the CDO film. Selection of precursors employed in step 410 is detailed in the Precursor Optimization section below. Step 415 is described in detail in the Process Optimization section, also below.

Precursor Optimization

As indicated, both process optimization and precursor selection can have strong effects on the material properties of the film. Precursors of interest should be carbon rich and, in some important embodiments, contain some degree of unsaturation (e.g., at least one carbon-carbon triple bond or double bond). Carbon may be provided in the form of alkyl groups, alkene groups (containing at least one carbon-carbon double bond), and alkyne groups (containing at least one carbon-carbon triple bond) for example. For many applications, it will be desirable to choose at least one precursor that has at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. Precursors having any of these enumerated properties may be used alone (in a process gas having a single precursor) or in combination with other precursors.

Examples of precursors for CDO dielectrics include silane (in combination with a carbon containing precursor), alkylsilanes (e.g., trimethylsilane, and tetramethylsilane), alkoxysilanes (e.g., methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS) diethoxymethylsilane (DEMS), methyldimethoxysilane (MDMOS), trimethylmethoxysilane (TMMOS) and dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMOS)), linear siloxanes (e.g., diethoxymethylsilane), cyclic siloxanes (e.g. alkylcyclotetrasiloxanes such as octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS) and tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (TMCTS)), and various compounds with silyl groups. Note that one example of a silane is di-tert-butylsilane. In each class of compounds, the precursor may be entirely unsaturated or it may include one or more carbon-carbon triple bonds or double bonds.

Because the CDO film is to include carbon-carbon triple bonds or double bonds (or derivative forms of these), a precursor then preferably includes at least one carbon-carbon triple bond or double bond. Precursors having carbon-carbon triple bonds or double bonds may be found in various classes of compound including, for example, silanes having at least one hydrocarbon group with a carbon-carbon double bond and at least one alkyl group or at least one oxy-hydrocarbon group, silanes having at least one hydrocarbon group with a carbon-carbon triple bond and at least one alkyl group or at least one oxy-hydrocarbon group, bis(alkylsilyl)acetylenes, bis(alkylsilyl)ethylenes, and siloxanes having pendant hydrocarbon groups with a carbon-carbon triple bond or double bond. Several silicon-containing hydrocarbons (with or without oxygen) have been identified as potential precursors that may be used in a deposition process to form CDO films of low stress having low dielectric constants. These include the following:

Ethynyltrimethylsilane (SiC₅H₁₀): ETMS, also known as trimethylsilaneacetylene (TMSA), (CH₃)₃Si—C≡C—H

Propargyltrimethylsilane (SiC₆H₁₂): PTMS, (CH₃)₃Si—CH₂—C≡C—H

Propargyloxytrimethylsilane (SiC₆H₁₂O): POTMS, (CH₃)₃Si—O—CH₂—C≡C—H

Bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene (Si₂C₈H₁₈): BTMSA, (CH₃)₃Si—C≡C—Si(CH₃)₃

1,3-Diethynyltetramethyldisiloxane (Si₂C₈H₁₄O): DTDS, HC≡C—Si(CH₃)₂—O—Si(CH₃)₂—C≡C—H

1,3-Divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (Si₂C₈H₁₈O): DVDS, H₂C═CH—Si(CH₃)₂—O—Si(CH₃)₂—CH═CH₂

Vinyltrimethylsilane (SiC₅H₁₂): VTMS, (CH₃)₃Si—CH═CH₂

Vinylmethyldimethoxysilane (SiC₅H₁₂O₂): VMDMOS, (CH₃O)₂(CH₃)Si—CH═CH₂

Dimethylmethoxysilaneacetylene (SiC₅H₁₁O): DMMOSA, (CH₃O)(CH₃)₂Si—C≡CH

Methyldimethoxysilaneacetylene (SiC₅H₁₁O₂): MDMOSA, (CH₃O)₂(CH₃)Si—C≡CH

Dimethylethoxysilaneacetylene (SiC₆H₁₃O): DMEOSA, (C₂H₅O)(CH₃)₂Si—C≡CH

Methyldiethoxysilaneacetylene (SiC₇H₁₅O₂): MDEOSA, (C₂H₅O)₂(CH₃)Si—C≡CH

Ethyldiethoxysilaneacetylene (SiC₈H₁₇O₂): EDEOSA, (C₂H₅O)₂(C₂H₅)Si—C≡CH

Dimethylsilane-diacetylene (SiC₆H₈): DMSDA, (CH₃)₂Si(C≡CH)₂

Methylsilane-triacetylene (SiC₇H₆): MSTA, (CH₃)Si(C≡CH)₃

Tetraacetylene Silane (SiC₈H₄): TAS, Si(C≡CH)₄

Divinyldimethylsilane (SiC₆H₁₂): DVDMS, (CH₃)₂Si(CH═CH₂)₂

The functional groups are C═C (double bonds) and C≡C (triple bonds) which may be pendant or embedded within other functionalities. Preferably, the desired functional group in the precursor(s) is the C≡C (triple bonds). During deposition, these special functional groups become integrated in the CDO film on the substrate. Rigid C≡C and/or C═C bonds, and their derivative bonding structures through crosslinking with Si, O, and C, when embedded in the CDO film, strengthen the material matrix and alter Si—O—Si backbone structure of CDO films, resulting in a more rigid lattice, thus lowering the tensile stress of the CDO film. As presented below, the incorporation of C═C and C≡C bond and their derivative forms within the Si—O—Si structure was observed by FTIR and other analytical methods.

As mentioned, such films may be formed from a single carbon-containing precursor or multiple precursors in combination. Obviously, if a single precursor is used, then it must contain at least one carbon-carbon triple or double bond, and more preferably at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. But if multiple precursors are used in combination, it is not necessary for each of them to include an unsaturated group. Various primary precursors may be employed which have no double bonds or triple bonds.

In some embodiments employing multiple precursors, a secondary precursor is introduced for the sole purpose of providing double bonded or triple bonded hydrocarbon molecules. Many of these are relatively small molecules having 2 to 6 carbon atoms and one or more carbon-carbon double bonds or carbon-carbon triple bonds. Specific examples include C₃H₄: CH₃—C≡C—H, C₂H₂: H—C≡C—H, C₂H₄: CH₂═CH₂, C₃H₆: CH₂═CH—CH₃, C₃H₄: CH₂═C═CH₂, and cyclopropene (C₃H₄). Other potential candidates for secondary precursors are silicon-containing hydrocarbons, or oxygen-containing hydrocarbons.

The precursor, in liquid or gaseous form, is one component of the process chemicals employed during deposition. The process chemicals are those gases or liquids introduced into a reactor, such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, to allow deposition of the CDO film. Generally, the process gases will include at least a carrier gas and one or more precursor gases/liquids introduced to the reaction chamber via the carrier gas. At least one of the precursors or the carrier gas should act as a source of oxygen. The source of silicon usually comes from a precursor gas/liquid. The hydrocarbon groups for the CDO film (including groups containing carbon-carbon double bonds and triple bonds) may come from either the precursor chemical(s) or the carrier gas, as indicated.

Generally, the carrier gas is provided in much greater volumes than the precursor chemical(s). It is used as a delivery vehicle and a means for sweeping precursor materials and byproducts through the reactor. Various oxygen containing gases such as molecular oxygen (O₂), ozone (O₃), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) may be used. Carbon dioxide is preferred for many applications of this invention. In some embodiments hydrogen is used as the carrier gas. In still other embodiments, inert gases such as helium, argon, etc. are used. Examples of hydrocarbon carrier gases include acetylene (C₂H₂), ethylene (C₂H₄), propene (CH₂═CHCH₃), propyne (CH₃C≡CH), 1,2-propadiene (CH₂═C═CH₂), and cyclopropene (C₃H₄).

In one example, the process gas employs a carrier gas but no separate oxygen source. Examples of the carrier gas include inert gases and hydrogen. In this example, a single precursor provides all the necessary oxygen, silicon, and carbon, including the carbon-carbon triple bonds and/or double bonds. As indicated, siloxanes and various silanes or compounds having silyl groups with hydrocarbon oxy moieties are suitable for this purpose.

In a second process gas example, the carrier gas again provides no oxygen. In this case, however, there are at least two precursor gases. The primary precursor provides oxygen, silicon, and some amount of carbon and hydrogen. Examples of such primary precursors include TMCTS, DEMS, MTEOS and OMCTS. A secondary precursor is employed to provide the carbon-carbon triple bonds and/or double bonds. Note that in some cases, the carrier gas could be one of the secondary precursor hydrocarbons.

In a third process gas example, the carrier gas supplies some or all of the oxygen. As indicated, examples of suitable oxygenated carrier gases are carbon dioxide, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, molecular oxygen or other oxygen containing molecules. In this third example, only a single precursor is employed. It may or may not include oxygen. In cases where no oxygen is used, it could simply be a hydrocarbon silane material. Preferably, however it includes some degree of unsaturation. More preferably, the unsatuation involves one carbon-carbon triple bond. Examples of suitable precursors for this embodiment include ETMS or TMSA, PTMS, BTMSA, TAS, MSTA, MDEOSA, DMEOSA, DMSDA and VTMS. Any one of these “single precursors” may be used in conjunction with a carrier gas.

In a fourth example of a process gas, oxygen is again supplied in a carrier gas such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide or nitrous oxide. However, in this case two or more precursors are employed. At least one of these may be similar to those identified in the second example. However, it is not necessary for oxygen to be present in either the primary or secondary precursors. However, in some embodiments, some amount of oxygen may be present in one or more of these molecules. Many relatively simple hydrocarbon silanes and/or silyl compounds may be employed as the primary precursor.

Some specific examples of process gases include the following.

1. one precursor (CC bond but not oxygen containing)

-   -   a. TMSA+CO₂     -   b. TMSA+CO₂+O₂     -   c. TMSA+He+CO₂     -   d. TMSA+He+O₂     -   e. TMSA+N₂O     -   f. TMSA+H₂+CO₂     -   g. TMSA+He+H₂O₂     -   h. BTMSA+CO₂+O₂

2. one precursor (CC bond AND oxygen containing)

-   -   a. MDEOSA+He     -   b. MDEOSA+CO₂     -   c. MDEOSA+He+O₂

3. Two or more precursors (CC bond AND Oxygen containing in either one)

-   -   a. TMSA+TMCTS+He     -   b. TMSA+TMCTS+CO₂     -   c. TMSA+TMCTS+He+O₂     -   d. TMSA+OMCTS+CO₂     -   e. TMSA+OMCTS+He+O₂     -   f. TMSA+DEMS+OMCTS+He+CO₂+O₂

4. One precursor (not oxygen containing, CC bond from carrier gas)

-   -   a. 2MS (dimethylsilane)+C₂H₂+CO₂     -   b. 2MS+C₂H₂+N₂O     -   c. 3MS (trimethylsilane)+C₂H₂+He+O₂     -   d. 4MS (tetramethylsilane)+C₂H₂+CO₂+O₂

5. one precursor (oxygen containing, CC bonds from carrier gases)

-   -   a. TMCTS+C₂H₂     -   b. TMCTS+C₂H₂+He     -   c. TMCTS+C₂H₂+CO₂     -   d. TMCTS+C₂H₂+He+CO₂+O₂     -   e. OMCTS+C₂H₂+He     -   f. OMCTS+C₂H₂+He+O₂     -   g. OMCTS+C₂H₂+He+CO₂

6. No carbon-containing precursor (carrier gas contains carbon and CC bond)

-   -   a. SiH₄+C₂H₂+CO₂     -   b. SiH₄+C₂H₂+He+CO₂     -   c. SiH₄+C₂H₂O+He         Process Optimization

Various deposition techniques may be employed to form the CDO dielectric materials of this invention. These include various other forms of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) including plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) and high-density plasma CVD (HDP CVD). HDP CVD of dielectric materials is described in various sources including commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/996,619, filed Nov. 28, 2001 by Atiye Bayman et al. and titled “Gap Fill for High Aspect Ratio Structures” (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,654), which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Additionally, other techniques such as spin on techniques and deposition from supercritical solutions may be employed. But for many applications of this invention, a plasma based CVD process is employed.

The process deposition conditions may be optimized to reduce either the intrinsic or extrinsic stress (or both) of a CDO film. Conditions that reduce intrinsic stress generally enhance/promote the incorporation of desired bonding structures in the as deposited CDO films.

Further the deposition conditions need to be optimized to promote the crosslinking of incorporated bonds. Without this crosslinking, the film mechanical strength will generally be low due to the fact that an increase in content of methyl group CH₃ as a terminating group in the CDO film will reduce the bonding density per volume thus the bonding integrity of the film. With crosslinking, the Si—O—Si matrix structure is strengthened. As a result, the mechanical strength, or the fracture toughness, of the as deposited CDO film will be high.

Compositional bonds formed in CDO film of particular interest to this invention include Si—CH₂—Si, Si—C≡C—Si, Si—CH═CH—Si, Si—CH₂—CH₂—Si and other derivatives of these bonds due to Si, C or O crosslinking, such as Si—O—C≡C—Si, Si—O—CH═CH—Si, Si—C(—H, —OSi)—CH₂—Si, etc. It is noted that the chemical bond length and angle varies with the degree of saturation and crosslinking. Nominal bond length of the C—C bond is ˜1.5 Å, that of the C═C bond is ˜1.3 Å, that of the C≡C bond is ˜1.2 Å, and that of the C—O bond is ˜1.1 Å while the nominal bond length of the Si—O bond is ˜1.6 Å and that of the Si—C bond is ˜1.9 Å. It is evident that the incorporation of C≡C bond and its derivatives (C═C, C—C) and their crosslinking within the CDO film will greatly influence the Si—O—Si matrix structure. More specifically, the Si—O—Si bond angle will change significantly as the desired C related bonds are incorporated and crosslinked. Since the Si—O—Si matrix is the backbone structure of the CDO film, the change in Si—O—Si bond angle will alter the structural mismatch between the as-deposited CDO film and the substrate, hence the intrinsic stress of the CDO film. Experimental data shown below will discuss the variation of the Si—O—Si bond angle as CDO film stress lowers in more detail.

One method to reduce extrinsic stress in the CDO film is to employ a relatively low deposition temperature. The coefficients of thermal expansion for the underlying substrate and the CDO film(s) are generally mismatched. Therefore, CDO films deposited at high temperatures will exhibit relatively high extrinsic stresses at ambient temperatures. Therefore, in order to achieve a reduction of the film's stress due to temperature effects, during deposition the substrate should be maintained at a temperature of between about 300 and 425° C., and preferably between about 300 and 400° C. (and more preferably between about 300 and 350° C.). FIG. 5 illustrates how the film stress varies with the deposition temperature using OMCTS as chemical precursor and CO₂ as the carrier gas. Near k=3.0, the 400° C. process yielded a stress around 45 MPa. As deposition temperature decreases, the film stress decreases rapidly. At a deposition temperature of 300° C., the film stress is around 33 MPa with a k value of 2.87, significantly lower than the stress at 400° C. Below about 300° C., the film quality, such as the thermal stability, may degrade, therefore lower deposition temperatures may not be appropriate to be used for deposition of CDO film without employing a post deposition step to cure or to stabilize the film.

As discussed above, intrinsic stress can be reduced by incorporating C—C bonds and its derivatives and promoting cross-linking/bridging in the CDO film. Due to the very reactive nature of carbon-carbon triple bond, there is abundant incorporation of C—C bond in the as deposited CDO film. To further enhance its incorporation and its crosslinking within the CDO film, one method is to increase ion bombardment during the PECVD deposition. Process conditions that increase ion bombardment may be chosen to increase one or both of (a) the mean energy of ion striking the substrate and (b) the flux of ions reaching the substrate. Physically, these results may be achieved by selecting process conditions that accomplish one of the following: (i) increasing the mean free path of the ions in the plasma, (ii) reducing the distance that an ion must travel before striking the substrate, and (iii) increasing the mean energy or momentum of the ions that strike the substrate surface.

To increase the momentum or energy of ions striking the substrate surface, at least two different process conditions may be manipulated. First, using a dual-frequency reactor of the type described below, one can increase the relative amount of the low frequency component of the RF energy supplied to the reactor. This has the effect of increasing the length of time in a given oscillation during which ions are accelerated in a single direction (toward the wafer surface). Because the ions are exposed to a field in this direction for a longer period of time, they can accelerate to higher speeds and hence strike the substrate with greater momentum. Second, one can pulse the high frequency component of the RF power to accomplish a similar result.

As is well known in the art, in general, high frequency components of the RF power delivered to a reactor control the plasma density and low frequency components produce ion bombardment of the film. The high and low frequency components can be provided at any of a number of suitable frequencies. In a typical process, the LF component is provided in a frequency range of about 100 to 600 kHz, more preferably about 200-500 kHz, for example about 300 kHz. The High Frequency HF component is generally between 2-60 MHz—in one process example, an HF frequency of 13.156 MHz is used.

In one embodiment, the low frequency component of delivered RF power is between about 0 and 90 percent of the total power, and more preferably between about 0 and 60 percent of the total power (e.g., between about 5 and 40 percent). The optimal value will vary depending upon the mean free path of the ions and the various conditions that impact mean free path. In a specific example, the total power delivered is about 800 Watts on six 200 mm wafers or 0.42 W/cm² in area density. This value can be varied depending upon the specific application and plasma reactor employed. In many cases, the low frequency component has a power area density of between about 0 W/cm² and 20 W/cm², and more preferably between 0 W/cm² and 1 W/cm².

In addition to varying the ratio of HFRF to LFRF, the HFRF power may be pulsed at a certain duty cycle, for example pulsing at between 500 Hz and 10 kHz and varying the HFRF duty cycle from 20-80%. This effectively superimposes a low frequency component on the plasma generation power.

Another method that may be used to increase ion bombardment during film deposition is to alter the deposition pressure. This simply increases the mean free path of ions in the deposition chamber. In one embodiment of the invention the deposition pressure is maintained at a pressure of between about 0.5 to 20 Torr, more preferably in the range of about 2.5-7 Torr.

Still another adjustment that may be used involves varying showerhead gap, defined as the distance between the showerhead and the thermal block on which the substrate is located. This varies the distance that an ion must travel before striking the substrate. The ideal gap depends on the type of reactor employed and the process conditions. For many situations, the gap is preferably between about 0.5 and 10 centimeters.

Process optimization also includes setting the proper flow rates of the various compounds in the process gases. Note that the flow rates are chosen depending upon the amount of surface area to be covered. One can certainly scale the flow rates chosen depending upon variations in the area to be deposited, including in situations where the reactor employs fewer or greater number of wafers and possibly employs 300 millimeter wafers as opposed to 200 millimeter wafers. For example, in experiments where six 200 millimeter wafers were used, the total precursor flow rate was 0.1 ml/min to about 10 ml/min as in liquid forms or 60 sccm to about 6000 sccm in gas forms. Note that this comprises the total flow rate of all precursors.

With a low tensile stress or a compressive stress, the mechanical properties of CDO films improve significantly as indicated by experimental examples presented below. It is noted that the blanket film cracking limit has improved significantly for all k values below 3.0. The cracking limit of CDO film of k=2.60 was improved from 1.5 μm to 3 μm. The cracking limit of CDO film of k=2.70 was improved from ˜2.2 μm to 5 μm. The cracking limit of CDO film of k=2.90 was improved from 2.5 μm to >10 μm. Combined with an unaltered modulus, the CDO films of low stress demonstrated a remarkable improvement in film cracking resistance, thus providing a more robust dielectric film for Cu/low k integration and packaging.

EXPERIMENTAL

Various additional experiments were conducted to confirm aspects of this invention. Some of these are presented below.

Raman analysis of CDO films has been done. FIG. 6 a is a TMCTS and FIG. 6 b is a BTMSA based film. As explained, TMCTS is a cyclic tetrasiloxane without any double or triple bonds and BTMSA is a bis(silyl)acetylene. The two films are characterized by strong sharp peaks at 2910 & 2970 cm⁻¹, typical for symmetric and asymmetric stretching of CH₃ groups in —Si—CH₃ structure, typical for silicones. The band at ˜1418 in both spectra may be related with scissoring of —CH₃ groups. FIG. 6 a (the TMCTS based film) has a peak at 790 cm⁻¹ that is due to Si—C stretching similar to the same band in SiC (a transversal optical (TO) band) and silicones. This peak was weak in FIG. 6 b (the BTMSA based film), at 796 cm⁻¹. A peak at 2100˜2245 cm⁻¹ in FIG. 6 a is likely due to Si—H stretching. FIG. 6 b has a band at 1608 cm⁻¹ due to —C═C— stretching, which was not detected in the TMCTS based film. A peak in FIG. 6 b at ˜2250 cm⁻¹ is probably due to —C≡C— originating in the BTMSA precursor. These results show that there are —C═C— and —C≡C— bonds in the BTMSA based film, which is consistent with the FTIR results. It is believed that the —C═C— and —C≡C— bonds take a key role in lowering CDO residual stress. In FIG. 6 a, bands at 494 & 621 cm⁻¹ are due to —Si—O—Si— vibrations. They probably are shifted in FIG. 6 b (the BTMSA based film) at 525 & 640 cm⁻¹, although the assignment of these bands is not certain.

FIG. 7 shows FTIR spectra of ETMS, OMCTS and OMCTS+ETMS films, illustrating the chemical structure of the CDO matrix. The FTIR spectra of three CDO films exhibit an absorption peak corresponding to C—H stretch around 2900 to 3000 cm⁻¹. For CH₃, the symmetric and asymmetric stretches are expected at 2964-2967 and 2907-2909 cm⁻¹ respectively.

For methylene groups (CH₂), 2933 and 2878 cm⁻¹ is assigned as the symmetric and asymmetric stretches, respectively. CH₃ symmetric and CH₂ asymmetric stretches were observed for all three films at 2955 and 2878 cm⁻¹, respectively. The —C≡C— stretching band for the ETMS and OMCTS+ETMS films was observed at 2115 and 2120 cm⁻¹, respectively, which suggests that a significant amount of carbon triple bonds were incorporated into the CDO matrix after plasma polymerization. There is no —C≡C— stretching band for OMCTS film but it contains two Si—H stretching bands, which are (SiO)₃Si—H and (CH₃)(SiO)₂Si—H, observed at 2214 cm⁻¹ and 2150 cm⁻¹, although they are very weak. The middle peaks around 1250-1280 cm⁻¹ in the FTIR spectra of all three films in FIG. 7 are assigned as the Si—(CH₃)x methyl rocking bands at 1270 cm⁻¹ for OMCTS film and 1260 cm⁻¹ for ETMS and OMCTS+ETMS films. The Si—O stretching bands for all three films were observed at 1022 cm⁻¹. The FTIR spectra of all three films also show SiC stretching bands at 796, 873, and 821 cm⁻¹. Other peaks related to derivative bonds from the C—C triple bond are also observed from the ETMS based CDO films. These bonds include: Si—CH2-CH2-Si (1160 cm⁻¹ and 1270 cm⁻¹), and Si—CH═CH—Si (1620-1680 cm⁻¹).

The peaks associated with stretching vibration of Si—O—Si backbone structure are in the range from 900 to 1230 cm⁻¹. These peaks can be deconvoluted into three peaks centered at 1135, 1065 and 1015 cm⁻¹, as shown in FIG. 8 a, which shows a graph of the deconvolution of the Si—O—Si absorption band for a CDO film with a tensile stress of 65 MPa. The 11135 cm⁻¹ peak is due to Si—O—Si bonds in a cage structure with a large bond angle of around 1500, and the 1065 cm⁻¹ peak is due to the Si—O—Si bonds with bond angle of ˜144° in a network structure, while 1015 cm⁻¹ corresponds to Si—O—Si bonds of even smaller angle than 144° in a sub-oxide structure.

When the CDO film stress is lowered, the peak area ratios between these Si—O—Si stretching vibrations change. FIG. 8 b shows the deconvolution of Si—O—Si absorption band for a CDO film with a low tensile stress of 20 MPa. In the case of this low stress film, only two peaks are needed to obtain a good fit. The 1135 cm⁻¹ peak has disappeared, indicating a minimal content of Si—O—Si cage structure in this film of a low tensile stress. The 1015 cm⁻¹ peak remains at the same position while the 1065 cm⁻¹ peak shows a slight blue shift to a higher wavenumber around 1078 cm⁻¹, implying a slight increase of the Si—O—Si network bond angle.

To further study the relative variation of those three individual Si—O—Si peaks vs. stress, films of the same k value and different stresses were deposited and their FTIR spectra were analyzed. It is noted that as the CDO film stress lowers, the peak area ratio of 1135 cm⁻¹ (Si—O—Si-cage)/1065 cm⁻¹ (Si—O—Si-network) absorptions decreases as shown in FIG. 9 a, while the peak ratio of 1015 cm⁻¹ (Si—O—Si-suboxide)/Si—O—Si-network absorptions shows only a weak trend. These observations indicate that the chemical precursors with desired bond structures disclosed here and deposition methods discussed herein are effective to alter the backbone Si—O—Si matrix structure in a CDO film and hence to lower the CDO film stress.

It is further noted that as the CDO film stress is lowered with process improvements described, the CDO film modulus remains comparable to its value as deposited with conventional methods, e.g. CDO process with TMCTS as precursor and CO₂ as carrier gas, at the similar k values, as illustrated in FIG. 9 b. In FIG. 9 b, Process Regime I refers to the conventional process with TMCTS and CO₂ as the deposition chemicals, while Process Regime II involves the novel methods disclosed herein. With unaltered film modulus, the low tensile stress of CDO film will dramatically improve the CDO film cracking limit and fracture toughness over the CDO film deposited with conventional methods.

The invention is further confirmed with an experiment to vary the concentration of desired bonds (i.e. —C═C— or —C≡C—, and their derivatives) in the CDO film deposited. In one experiment, it is noted that low frequency (LF) RF power is effective in modulating the concentration of those desired bonds when TMSA was used as the precursor and CO₂ as the carrier gas. FIG. 10 shows that the —C≡C— concentration in the as deposited CDO film based on FTIR spectrum measurement increases with increasing LFRF power while film residual stress decreases accordingly.

In another experiment, the relative concentration of unsaturated precursor in the total precursor supplied to a reactor was varied to affect the —C≡C— concentration in CDO film and thus the film residual stress. As shown in FIG. 11, stress decreases with increasing concentration of the ETMS precursor with the novel functional groups (triple bonds) relative to concentration of unsaturated OMCTS. As explained, the group with structure of —C≡C— can relax the lattice of the building block (Si—O—Si backbone structure) of the CDO film to reduce the residual stress of the film.

To illustrate the stress reduction with the disclosed functional groups (C═C and/or C≡C bonds), FIG. 12 plots residual film stress as a function of k value for films deposited using different precursors. Note that preferred CDO materials (produced in accordance with this invention) tend to reside on the lower left hand side of the plot. Specifically, it can be seen that films with C═C and/or C—C bonds deposited using OMCTS+ETMS have significantly lower stress than films without C═C and/or C—C bonds deposited using OMCTS or TMCTS at all k values from 2.6 to 3.5. For example, at a k value of 3.0, the stress for OMCTS+ETMS is around −11 MPa (compressive) while the stress for films deposited with OMCTS or TMCTS is >40 MPa (tensile).

FIG. 12 also shows that the CDO film deposited with other preferred precursors, BTMSA or ETMS with C≡C bond results in even lower stress for a fixed k value. In addition, a low tensile stress of 26 MPa was obtained for k=2.7 CDO film. A low tensile stress of 40 MPa was obtained for k=2.6 CDO film. It can be seen that the residual film stress has been reduced significantly in comparison with those films without C═C (double bond) and/or C≡C (triple bond). With optimal precursor structure and process conditions, the residual stress of CDO films can be significantly lowered for k<3.0 from the current level (˜50 MPa tensile) to well below 30 Mpa (tensile), as low as −20 Mpa (compressive). In this set of experiments the k value of the deposited film was as low as 2.60.

Various additional examples will now be presented. These show the effects of increasing LFRF and of providing precursors with carbon-carbon double bonds and triple bonds.

Example 1

In this example, the RF power was set at 600 W and 400 W for HF RF and LF RF power, respectively, on a Sequel® chamber (Novellus Systems, Inc, San Jose, Calif.), which can be used to deposit films on six 200 mm wafers simultaneously. A chamber pressure of 4 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid BTMSA flow rate of 2 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 3000 sccm was used during CVD polymerization at 350° C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.95 and stress of −21.4 Mpa (compressive). The cracking limit of as deposited film was tested to be larger than 10 μm.

Example 2

In this example, the RF power was set at 1000 W and 300 W for HF RF and LF RF, respectively, in a Sequel® chamber (Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif.). A chamber pressure of 7 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid BTMSA flow rate of 2 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 3000 sccm was used during CVD polymerization at 350° C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.71 and a low tensile stress of 23.8 MPa. The critical cracking thickness of this film is >4.8 μm. The electrical performance of this film was also tested using metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure. The IV curve was plotted in FIG. 13—current density versus field strength (IV) curve, which was measured using MIS structure. Excellent electrical performance was shown with current density <0.7 nA/cm2 at a field of 1 MV/cm.

Example 3

In this example, the RF power was set at 1000 W and 1300 W for HF RF and LF RF power, respectively, in a Sequel® chamber. A chamber pressure of 4 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid OMCTS flow rate of 1.6 ml/min, liquid ETMS flow rate of 0.4 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 3000 sccm was used during CVD polymerization at 350 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 3.01 and low stress of −11.2 Mpa (compressive). The film has a modulus of >11 GPa and a critical cracking thickness of >10 μm.

Example 4

In this example, the RF power was set at 1000 W and 350 W for HF RF and LF RF power, respectively, in a Sequel® Chamber. A chamber pressure of 4 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid OMCTS flow rate of 2 ml/min, ETMS flow rate of 0.3 ccm and CO₂ flow rate of 3000 sccm was used during CVD polymerization at 350 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.86 and a low tensile stress of 23.2 MPa. The film has a hardness of 1.63 GPa, a modulus of >10 GPa and a critical cracking thickness of >10 μm. In comparison, the films deposited without C═C or C≡C bonds perform relatively poorly. For example, a conventional CDO film deposited using only TMCTS and CO₂ with k value of 2.85 has a hardness of 1.45 GPa, modulus of 9.0 GPa and a cracking limit of 2.4 μm, all of which are significantly lower than those for the film disclosed here.

Example 5

In this example, the RF power was set at 1200 W and 300 W for HF RF and LF RF power, respectively, in a Sequel® chamber. A chamber pressure of 7 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid BTMSA flow rate of 2.0 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 3000 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 350 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.69 and a low tensile stress of 24 MPa. The critical cracking thickness of this film is >5 μm.

Example 6

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 1000 W and no LF RF power was used in a Sequel® chamber. A chamber pressure of 7 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid ETMS flow rate of 1.5 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 4000 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 400 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.61 and stress of 35.55 Mpa (tensile). The critical cracking thickness of this film is 3 μm.

Example 7

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 3000 W and LF RF power at 200 W in a Novellus “Vector®” chamber, which can deposit films on four 300 mm wafers simultaneously. A chamber pressure of 5.5 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid TMSA flow rate of 2.5 ml/min, CO₂ flow rate of 4000 sccm and O₂ flow rate of 200 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 400 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.71 and stress of 43 Mpa (tensile). The critical cracking thickness of this film is >5 μm.

Example 8

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 1900 W and LF RF power at 300 W in a Novellus “Vector®” chamber. A chamber pressure of 5.0 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid TMSA flow rate of 2.5 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 5000 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 400 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.86 and stress of 17.6 Mpa (tensile). The modulus of the film is 9.75 GPa and the critical cracking thickness of this film is >5 μm.

Example 9

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 1000 W and LF RF power at 600 W in a Novellus “Vector®” chamber. A chamber pressure of 5.0 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid TMSA flow rate of 2.5 ml/min and CO₂ flow rate of 4000 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 400 C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 3.0 and stress of 1.56 Mpa (tensile).

Example 10

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 1000 W and LF RF power at 1000 W in a Novellus “Vector®” chamber. A chamber pressure of 5.0 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid TMSA flow rate of 2.5 m/min and CO₂ flow rate of 4000 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 400° C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 3.20 and stress of −26.3 Mpa (compressive).

Example 11

In this example, the HF RF power was set at 2500 W and LF RF power at 300 W in a Novellus “Vector®” chamber. A chamber pressure of 7.0 Torr was used in this process. The gas mixture of liquid TMSA flow rate of 2.5 ml/min, CO₂ flow rate of 5000 sccm and O₂ flow rate of 300 sccm was used during PECVD deposition at 350° C. The as-deposited film had a dielectric constant of 2.71 and stress of 26.8 Mpa (tensile).

Apparatus

The present invention can be implemented in many different types of apparatus, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors and spin-coating systems. Generally, the apparatus will include one or more chambers or “reactors” (sometimes including multiple stations) that house one or more wafers and are suitable for wafer processing. Each chamber may house one or more wafers for processing. The one or more chambers maintain the wafer in a defined position or positions (with or without motion within that position, e.g. rotation, vibration, or other agitation). In one embodiment, a wafer undergoing dielectric deposition is transferred from one station to another within the reactor during the process. While in process, each wafer is held in place by a pedestal, wafer chuck and/or other wafer holding apparatus. For certain operations in which the wafer is to be heated, the apparatus may include a heater such a heating plate. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a PE-CVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) system may be used as well as, for example, an HDP CVD (High Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition) system.

FIG. 14 provides a simple block diagram depicting various reactor components arranged for implementing the present invention. As shown, a reactor 1400 includes a process chamber 1424, which encloses other components of the reactor and serves to contain the plasma generated by a capacitor type system including a showerhead 1414 working in conjunction with a grounded heater block 1420. A high-frequency RF generator 1402 and a low-frequency RF generator 1404 are connected to a matching network 1406 that, in turn is connected to showerhead 1414. The power and frequency supplied by matching network 1406 is sufficient to generate a plasma from the process gas, for example 800 W total energy.

Within the reactor, a wafer pedestal 1418 supports a substrate 1416. The pedestal typically includes a chuck, a fork, or lift pins to hold and transfer the substrate during and between the deposition reactions. The chuck may be an electrostatic chuck, a mechanical chuck or various other types of chuck as are available for use in the industry and/or research.

The process gases are introduced via inlet 1412. Multiple source gas lines 1010 are connected to manifold 1408. The gases may be premixed or not. Appropriate valving and mass flow control mechanisms are employed to ensure that the correct gases are delivered during the deposition and plasma treatment phases of the process. In case the chemical precursor(s) is delivered in the liquid form, liquid flow control mechanisms are employed. The liquid is then vaporized and mixed with other process gases during its transportation in a manifold heated above its vaporization point before reaching the deposition chamber.

Process gases exit chamber 1400 via an outlet 1422. A vacuum pump 1426 (e.g., a one or two stage mechanical dry pump and/or a turbomolecular pump) typically draws process gases out and maintains a suitably low pressure within the reactor by a close loop controlled flow restriction device, such as a throttle valve or a pendulum valve.

Applications

This invention broadly applies to deposition of low-k low residual stress CDO dielectric materials on any type substrate. In many cases, however, the CDO dielectric materials will be used in integrated circuits or other electronic devices. A preferred use for the CDO films of this invention is for interlayer dielectric (ILD) applications (including both interlevel dielectrics (between active devices and the first metallization layer and intermetal dielectrics (“IMD” between adjacent metallization layers)). In these applications, the CDO films serve to replace conventional silicon dioxide or fluorinated silica glass (FSG) materials. Examples of non-ILD applications include barrier and etch-stop (ES) layers, antireflective layers (ARL), hardmask layers, etc.

The ultimate thickness of a CDO dielectric film produced in accordance with this invention depends upon the application. For example, the final thickness for an interlayer dielectric or packaging application may range from 400 Angstroms to about 2 to 3 micrometers (μm). In some cases, extra thickness is required to provide some amount of sacrificial dielectric to accommodate a subsequent planarization step.

In a preferred embodiment, the CDO films produced in accordance with this invention are used in multiple metallization layers. Such devices may have, for example, five or more metallization layers and five or more associated CDO films.

Other Embodiments

While this invention has been described in terms of certain embodiments, there are various alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of the present invention. Further, there are numerous applications of the present invention, both inside and outside the integrated circuit fabrication arena. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1. A method of preparing a carbon doped silicon oxide (CDO) film on a substrate, the method comprising: (a) providing the substrate to a deposition chamber; and (b) contacting the substrate with one or more CDO precursors having a carbon-carbon triple bond in a dual frequency plasma enhanced deposition process and under process conditions whereby the CDO film is formed on the substrate, wherein the CDO film contains carbon-carbon triple bonds and their derivative bonds in sufficient amounts that the CDO film has a compressive stress or a tensile stress of magnitude less than about 30 MPa and a dielectric constant of not greater than about 3, wherein the CDO precursor comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of Ethynyltrimethylsilane (ETMS), also known as trimethylsilaneacetylene (TMSA), Propargyltrimethylsilane (PTMS), Propargyloxytrimethylsilane (POTMS), Bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene (BTMSA), 1,3-Diethynyltetramethyldisiloxane (DTDS), Dimethylmethoxysilaneacetylene (DMMOSA), Methyldimethoxysilaneacetylene (MDMOSA), Dimethylethoxysilaneacetylene (DMEOSA), Methyldiethoxysilaneacetylene (MDEOSA), Dimethylsilane-diacetylene (DMSDA), and Methylsilane-triacetylene (MSTA).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a partially fabricated integrated circuit.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the CDO film is an interlayer dielectric in an integrated circuit.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposition chamber comprises one or multiple stations that allow processing one or multiple substrates in parallel.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein contacting the substrate involves contacting with only a single CDO precursor in a carrier gas.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the single CDO precursor has at least two carbon-silicon bonds.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the CDO precursor contains silicon and oxygen atoms.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising contacting the substrate with one or more secondary precursors selected from the group consisting of 1,3-Divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (DVDS), Vinyltrimethylsilane (VTMS), Vinylmethyldimethoxysilane (VMDMOS), and Divinyldimethylsilane (DVDMS).
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein contacting the substrate involves contacting the substrate with only a primary CDO precursor and a secondary CDO precursor in a carrier gas.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the primary CDO precursor is an alkylsiloxane and the secondary CDO precursor comprises a carbon-carbon triple bond.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the secondary CDO precursor is a hydrocarbon that also serves as a carrier gas.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the primary CDO precursor comprises an alkyl cyclotetrasiloxane.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the carrier gas comprises one or more oxygen containing gases selected from the group consisting of carbon dioxide, oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and nitrous oxide.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the carrier gas comprises one or more gases selected from the group consisting of helium, argon, and other inert gases.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the carrier gas comprises one or more hydrocarbon gases.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more hydrocarbon gases are selected from the group consisting of acetylene (C₂H₂), ethylene (C₂H₄), propene (CH₂═CHCH₃), propyne (CH₃C≡CH), 1,2-propadiene (CH₂═C═CH₂), and cyclopropene (C3H4).
 17. The method of claim 9, wherein the carrier gas comprises one or more gases selected from the group consisting of oxygen containing gases, inert gases, and hydrocarbon gases.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more CDO precursors are provided in a carrier gas.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposited CDO film has a carbon-carbon triple bond to silicon oxide bond area ratio of about 0.05% to 20% based on FTIR peak area.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the CDO film has a carbon-carbon triple bond to silicon oxide bond area ratio of about 0.3% to 7% based on FTIR peak area.
 21. The method of claim 20, where the as deposited CDO film also contains derivative bond structures of carbon-carbon triple bonds, wherein the derivative bond structures include one or more of the following: carbon-carbon double bonds, carbon-carbon single bonds, and their crosslinked forms within the Si—O—Si matrix.
 22. A method of preparing a carbon doped oxide dielectric (CDO) film comprising an improved Si—O—Si backbone structure, the method comprising: a) providing a substrate to a deposition chamber; and b) contacting the substrate with one or more dielectric film precursors having a carbon-carbon triple bond in a dual frequency plasma enhanced deposition process and under process conditions to form the dielectric film on the substrate, whereby the dielectric film has a cracking threshold of at least about 3 μm.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the CDO film contains elements other than Si, O, C and H.
 24. The method of claim 22, where the as deposited CDO film also contains derivative bond structures of carbon-carbon triple bonds, wherein the derivative bond structures include one or more of the following: carbon-carbon double bonds, carbon-carbon single bonds, and their crosslinked forms within the Si—O—Si matrix.
 25. The method of claim 22, wherein the carbon doped oxide dielectric film has a compressive stress or a tensile stress of magnitude not greater than about 50 MPa and a dielectric constant of not greater than about
 3. 